Garlic Fest - Nelson County Virginia

Annually at Rebec Vineyards about 10 miles from where I grew up in COUNTRY ass Virginny. There is the Garlic Festival. Now, yes, there are the Garlic King and the Garlic Queen wearing their smelly crowns..but the main reason anyone comes to this particular event is for the drinking of local Virginia winery offerings. Virginia is not known for its wine per se. But if you are in the liking for the sweeter side of things, then you are in luck. Most of this stuff tastes a little like Franzia, a little like Kool Aid, but goes down easier than water. The other offerings are LOADS of food vendors, Thai, Ribs, Shwarma, Falafal, etc etc. So here are some of the pics from a nice day in the south drinking and eating.

Django

Django is a sweet little BYOB named after the gypsy jazz guitarist. It's tucked away just off the crazyness of South St. They serve you fresh hot bread from flower pots that come with this nifty "butter deodorant" to apply your butter. The food is never a let down from appetizer to dessert with a seasonal changing menu. (I'm so used to this new seasonal menu situation that I'm now wary of places with non-seasonal menus, like " where did my mango come from?")

Brielle had skate wing and I had scallops in pumpkin curry. Delicious. Sorry the appetizer and dessert dissappeared before the camera was whipped out.


Django
526 S 4th St
Philadelphia, PA 19147
(215) 922-7151

Rx

I admit I never travel to the West Philly. Even though there are delicious eats there?? So on my date nite, I traveled to meet Brielle at Rx in her neigborhood. Rx is awesome because its in an old pharmacy and is small and cozy with awesome knick knacks. The food is seasonal and yummy. We had chorizo stuffed pork chop on bleu cheese risotto and a pork empanada. But dessert was the kicker, espresso chocolate bread pudding with creme fraiche and creme brulee with pomegranite syrup. There were also too many to choose from, because we would've taken them all.









Rx
4443 Spruce St, Philadelphia

A Plate for Two...Birds?

This is a picture of an appetizer plate for two from a cafe/restaurant called Morph in Tokyo. These little things were so cute and yummy... we cleared the plate in 15 sec.

I miss big juicy burgers.

leftovers

so I made a serious dinner at home for the first time in a while (usually it's rice & beans with a pork chop, cooked in beer and slathered with hot sauce) but was too busy eating to take pictures.

so today after staring at food pictures on flickr all day I rustled up the leftovers and cracked open a can of miller lite... and I swear to god everything always tastes better the next day.

• sirloin burger on ciabatta with american cheese
• habanero rice with red pepper coulis
• fennel, watermelon and heirloom tomato salad

ulterior epicure

Lately i've been going wild over flickr, staying up until the wee hours navigating through pictures of old signs, coney island, vietnamese movie posters, and most importantly here, food.

Tuna Tartar with Quail Egg at Joel Robuchon


Pickled Beef Tongue at WD-50


LC's Bar-B-Q's Burnt Ends



Flickr has become my first choice if I'm looking for photos of food or even recipe ideas and inspiration. Which is how I came across ulterior epicure's page. He (?) "ventures and eats anonomously", posting photos and reviews - usually from the chef's tasting menu - of every restaurant you wish you've eaten at. Everywhere from Babbo and Per Se to Jean Georges in Shanghai.

It also made me smile to see the Shake Shack and LC's Bar-B-Q among all of the michelin star winners. The photos are gorgeous and honestly a better representation of many of these restaurants than you would find elsewhere on the web. I can't imagine how he shoots these thorough documentaries of a meal while remaining anonymous.

It also blows my mind that the plates in all of these restaurants are absolutely perfect. Even the best restaurants get busy sometimes, and not every plate of food looks like it does in the magazines. Somehow our anonymous eater gets perfectly executed food everywhere he goes, or else has some serious editing skills.

Click here to go to ulterior epicure's flickr page.

Marra's

Marra's is exactly the kind of italian restaurant you want to take your parents on their anniversary or celebrate that the Phillies won.
It's well priced and if your lucky you'll run into your waitress yelling at someone in italian on the phone.
Food portions that are bigger than your face, along with home made cannolis or tiramisu.
Delicious!










Marra's
1734 E Passyunk Ave
Philadelphia, PA 19148-1524

okonomiyaki

This guy name Jeff Metal in UK sent me the best birthday e-mail ever. It's a birthday OKONOMIYAKI, a pan-fried batter with bunch of ingredients and toppings (like pizza, may be?) Too bad i didnt get to eat them cuz the mayonnaise letters sure do look good...

Jeff Metal is the biggest Okonomiyaki head ever and he also takes nice photos around the world. Go to his site here!

Co-Op Pancake Mix

This amazing mixture isn't just for pancakes. I can't read japanese but it's apparently illustrated on the package as being used for many other amazing food items. Like corndogs, muffins, cakes, pancakes, and DONUTS. I mean only the japanese can think of such a mixture, that when mixed with eggs and milk can be any of these things. Even the batter tasted good, it tasted like vanilla yogurt.
In the end we made pancakes, and they tasted just like donuts.

We DO good Bayou

On Saturday Tim had a hankering for fried chicken. Being the food nerd that I am, I try to figure out places to eat fried chicken that isn't gross. I think Delilah's Soul Food, Honey's sit and eat, Ms. Tootsies, and I run out of ideas. All of these ideas aren't going to work near my apartment at 9pm. So Hawk suggests Popeyes.

I cringe, but I decided if we do a Fried Chicken Tour of Philly, you gotta start at the bottom. Here's to you foodblog! 12 piece family meal for 20 bucks here I come!




I don't know what's in the chicken, but it made me and Tim shake while we we're eating it. Maybe they were coated in sugar? The biscuts tasted like hockey pucks of magarine. Depending on where you swing that could be amazing. And the potatos and coleslaw we're kinda bubbley on the bottom, I don't know what that means but they tasted okay. The chicken in all its grossness, was delicious. Crunchy and lots of meat.

And the family meal was way too much food for me, Tim, and Hawk.

Sunday Salads

On Sunday I try to de-tox what I put in my body Friday and Saturday. Here are my arugala salads.

Salad 1 - arugala, almonds, golden raisins, Friendly Farms smoked cheddar




Salad 2 - arugala, almonds, honeycrisp lancaster apples, carrots, Friendly Farms smoked cheddar




Chau Dressing
1 part rice vinegar
1 part shoyu (soy sauce)
a little honey (to taste)
1 part balsamic vinegar
3 parts olive oil
lots of black pepper

then whisk whisk whisk!

Mom and Tanakas

When I was visiting Ryohei's family in Japan they made me an American style breakfast. Which were these tiny fluffly pancakes that didn't taste like pancakes but tasted like donuts. They were the most delicious things I had ever tasted. They laughed at me and said I could make them too. So whenever they get the chance they send me a packages of the pancake mix. Since Ryohei and his sister Etsuko we're just in Hawaii visiting my parents, I got this package.



What my mom gave me and what Ryohei gave me started to blend together. So I am not sure who gave me what in this package but the Red Bean Mochi I finished in one sitting. The fancy japanese fish snacks were a little too fishy for Tim ( but perfect with beer!).

Tony's Shakes & Steaks

On the way home from Brigantine / Atlantic City, so hung over i could barely talk, this place was like a bright shining light of jersey shore heaven.

Roast Pork as good as anywhere in the city, with actual sharp provolone and
broccoli raab. The milkshakes were thick and delicious, made with homemade ice cream. The cheesesteak meat was a little on the chunky side - i enjoy a thinly sliced (but not shredded) cheesesteak meat - but covered in hot cherry peppers it was still damn good.

My only complaint is that they were out of the 6 pack of cheese wiz sliders(!!).

I guess I could have gone back to Atlantic City for $45 "sliders" made from cows massaged by wizards, topped with blueberry ostrich cheese and seaweed marshmallow aoili... or maybe just wait 'til next summer.

Tony's also has burgers, hot dogs, homemade chili, pork roll sandwiches, and about 4000 flavors of ice cream.

Tony's Steaks & Shakes
3107 Atlantic-Brigantine Blvd
Brigantine, NJ

Gooey Looie's

So I'd heard a lot of fuss about Gooey Looie's, that their sandwiches are so jammed with meat that people actually buy another roll and make two hoagies out of it. They weren't kidding.

Gooey Looie's is deep in south philly inside a strange little enclosed shopping court. It's also a deli / convenience type store with video poker, cigarettes, newspapers, etc.. but most of the people jammed wall to wall and at the 3 tiny tables are there for the food. 3 guys behind a counter in the back crank out the steaks & hoagies while the customers fight to the front of the line, hollering about the latest Eagles game or the day's winning lottery numbers. So pretty much the best place on earth.

The hoagies are classic, massive and delicious. No prosciutto or roasted red peppers here- just massive piles of meat with mountains of shredded lettuce, tomatoes, onions. The corned beef hoagie-which I didn't have a chance to try- seemed to be a big seller.

The cheesesteak took me two days to eat. Loads of meat and a sturdy roll held it all in, suprisingly the thing didn't fall apart when I tried to eat it. Really good too.

Gooey Looie's
Moyamensing & Moore
grill open 'til 7:00pm
deli til 8pm most nights
Closed Sundays

Allentown Fair

Livestock competitions, freak shows, blue ribbon onions, redneck t-shirts and most importantly, lots and lots of great fair food. Corn dogs, 'broasted' chicken, Ribs, Ice cream, Toasted Cheese Hamburgers, Cheesesteaks, Tacos & Mexican food, Pierogies, Funnel Cake, Root Beer Floats.

Corn Dogs

Great way to start a day of massive eating. Hand dipped right in front of me, this corn dog was piping hot and delicious. The stand also had Deep Fried Twinkies which I meant to come back and try but didnt have the time - maybe next year.

Pit Beef

A pit beef is a grilled side of beef (not sure what cut) sliced thin right in front of you, dipped in meat jus and slapped onto a hot dog roll with your choice of onions, cheese, ketchup. Similar to a cheesesteak, the meat was delicious but the cheap roll was lacking in flavor and texture - something that makes the beloved philly cheesesteak so special.

Pierogies

This little mom and pop pierogie stand hit the spot. They were super friendly and the truly homemade pierogies slathered in melted butter and onions were terrific.

Chili Dogs

Willie Joe's has two locations in Northeastern Pennsylvania. Nice snap to the dog, with a delicious 'hot dog sauce' style chili.

Best In Show

Along with all the rides & food the allentown fair also has competitions for everything from 'best decorative table setting' to 'best onions'. First prize is anywhere from 2 to 5 dollars. An entire pavillion is filled with people's collections of old junk, homemade cookies, amateur art, prize tomatoes, cake decoration.. all for the public to be amazed.

For more pictures of the Allentown Fair please visit my flickr page